Newbery Winners 2011 A Big Surprise!

Who even thought that a new author would snag the Newbery this Year? It's a little bit of a let down, not only because Jennifer Holm once again took Honor, but because this was a book no one had heard about. When the winners were announced, I asked several of my fellow Children Librarian's friends if they had heard of the book, Moon over Manifest. Not one could even remember reading a review of the book. Of course, this does not mean that the title is not worthy, it just means that now we will all be placing the book on hold and reading it as soon as we can. The last few years, the choices for the Newbery has been interesting to say the least. If one observation could be made of the recent winners, and three top winners this year is that the main characters are orphaned, more or less. One can argue that children's literature has a rich history of abandoned children (Boxcar Children, for example) and that this observation is a moot point. That may be true but still I wonder if children's literature could use a new twist and shake up just to make things interesting.

Three of Newbery and honor winners all shared a common thread which is the main character were all female, and all had a mother who either abandoned them, could not care for them properly or a mixture of both. All female characters were resilient despite their circumstances. In Holm's book, Turtle in Paradise, tells the story of a young girl whose mother is always looking for a better life that will happen just like it does on the silver screen. Turtle knows better. Happy endings rarely happen in real life and if they did, well more than likely it wouldn't happen for her and her mother. Holm does a wonderful job of painting a vivid picture of life in the Keys, and how Turtle adjusts to her new surroundings with strength and wit she never knew she had.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Carlos, was sure to be the top winner this year. The buzz about the book last January was enough for some to think that it was a done deal. Apparently not. This story is set in 1968 with Delphine, along with her twin sisters, travel from Brooklyn to Oakland,California to visit Cecile, the mother who had abandoned them years before. So many problems with this scenario that where to begin is very difficult to determine. The book itself was written well, but while reading the book the question that kept needing to be asked was how could a mother feel that a movement is more important than her children. Granted Civil Rights movement was an important time in our Nation's history and children should understand the frustrations, struggles and obstacles that African Americans faced daily. However, having said that, there is something worrisome about a mother choosing to make a movement more important than her children. Call me crazy. Would have loved to learn more about Big Ma, meeting her was too brief and something tells me that she would have been the warm, nurturing, no nonsensce grandmother everyone would invite into their homes.

Moon Over Manifest by new comer Clare Vanderpool, is similar to Turtle in Paradise since they both take place during the Depression years. This story of an eleven year old girl named Abelene is sent to live with her father's old friend, in Manifest, Kansas. As stated previously, I have not read the book yet. Yet, it seems startling to me that the top three books all have children who were abandoned in one way or another. Heartwarming to know that all the characters have strength within themselves to get through their situation. Yet at the same time, it is hard not to feel some sadness that these girls do not have a warm stable home life. For once it would be nice to see a Newbery book winner where the main characters have both parents around. A little outdated? No, because two parent families still exist.

Marquie Perus' Heart of a Samuri also won Newbery Honor. If this were Sesame Street, everyone would be singing which one of these is not like the others. The setting is radically different from the other three and the main character is a 14 year old boy and set in the 19th century. I have not read this one either. However, this book sounds like it would be perfect for Summer Reading Programs, "One World, One Story". With this in mind, stay tuned for a part two of Newbery 2011 award discussions.

Newbery 2011? One Crazy Summer

On a previous post, I decided that the first book to read for the Mock Newbery 2011 was One Crazy Summer which was written by Rita Williams-Garcia. My initial thought of the book is that it is okay. Nothing really to write home about and although it may be too early to decide if this would win the top honors or not, my gut instincts tells me it won't for several reasons. In fiction, it is desirable for the readers and the characters to have common ground. While this book will find those readers who will identify with the characters of this book, it lacks broad appeal.

The details that are wonderful and memorable are few. The one character that should have been more involved was Big Ma. It was her strong motherly care for her grandchildren that made this reader want to get to know her more. From the point of view of the main character, Delphine, Big Ma was a women who believed that family came first. With this commandment in hand she drilled into her family how to behave, how to dress and how to have pride in oneself. Who couldn't admire a grandmother like that? The Pop Culture of the late 1960's was also a nice touch. This presents the opportunity for children to ask their parents questions about years gone by and parents can recall memories of bell bottoms, hippies and protests. It's a pretty neat trip down memory lane.

What troubles this reader the most about the book is that it is centered around a woman who gave up her three daughters to write poems in order to "fight against the man". In other worlds, she wrote poetry for the Blank Panther movement. The position of the author on the topic of civil activism and violence is confusing. On one hand, the main character understands that being a the Blank Panther's community center could be dangerous. In the next breath Williams-Garcia describes the workers as wonderful role models who are teaching the children their rights. What is dangerous about this book is that it paints the Black Panther movement as something positive. There are mention in the story of calling the police "pigs" or "racist pigs". It doesn't matter what side of the political scale a person is on, it should be agreed that teaching children to disrespect or mistrust the police is never a good thing. It also shows a lack of respect between the races which is sad. It would be so much better if stories could be color blind. Whatever ethnic background we have, there is one common trait that all of us share. We all belong to the human race.

One Crazy Summer is an okay story but there has got to be better ones out there for the Newbery awards. Next month's Mrs. Nowc's Mock Newbery's selection will be The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz. Let me know what you think of either books. If there is a title that you think merits consideration on this list, drop me a line at lvnlibrarian@yahoo.com

Newbery Part II -- The Results!

This year's winner of Newbery was Rebeca Stead for her work When You Reach Me. It has quite a surprising twist to the plot that could not have been predicted by the reader. What was really a treat for me, since the book takes place in 1979 and I was around the same age as the main character in 1979, was that it seemed as though I time traveled back to that age and time. The 20,000 Pyramid, Dick Clark, and of course, A Wrinkle in Time. I loved that Newbery award winner too! It was nostalgic for me but it didn't get to quite the way other works have done in the past. Was it a good book? Yes. Did it deserve the medal? I'm not convinced.

The Newbery Award is given by a group of adults who feel that a piece of work is the best that American authors have offered for the year. I often wondered what would happen if children were the winner for the Newbery. What would have won this year? Diary of A Wimpy Kid? The Last Olympian? Maximum Ride? There are libraries and schools that will hold a Mock Newbery Award. Some of these have produced the same titles as the actual Newbery list while others were off the beaten path. For example, Anderson Book Shop (www.andersonbookshop.com) held a mock Newbery award, which placed 11 Birthdays by Wendy Mass as the winner. Neat book. However it did not even make the honors list let alone the top prize. Another mock winner was Where the Mountain Meets The Moon by Grace Lin in Ocean county. This book did win the Newbery honors award. This got me thinking this little blog could pick the winners of the Newbery for next year. Are we up to the challenge?

Here is the first book on the list to consider for the 2011 Mrs. Nowc Librarian At Large Mock Newbery Awards. (It might be necessary to think of a shorter title!) One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia will be published January 26, 2010 and will be the first book to be reviewed as a contender for this blog's Newbery Mock Award. Grab a copy! Any comments on the book can be posted to this blog or at lvnlibrarian@yahoo.com.

Not to worry, teens can send their nomination for the 2011 Printz Mock Award, but that will be a discussion for next time.